Articles by Gary Lerude, Microwave Journal Technical Editor

Verizon, Ericsson and Qualcomm Technologies completed a trial of frequency-division duplex (FDD) massive MIMO on Verizon’s network in Irvine, California. The companies said this was the first successful FDD massive MIMO trial with a fully compatible customer device.

The Association of Old Crows (AOC) held the organization’s fifty-fourth convention and symposium in Washington, D.C. the week of November 27, 2017. The event attracted 1,633 attendees, almost a 30 percent increase from 2016, and 107 exhibitors, a 10 percent increase from 2016, with 25 countries represented. Microwave Journal’s Mike Hallman and Gary Lerude toured the exhibition to get a pulse on how the RF/microwave industry is supporting EW system requirements.

Huawei and NTT DOCOMO announced 5G field trials at 39 GHz, demonstrating that the millimeter wave spectrum can be used for long distance transmission in both stationary and mobility scenarios.

Verizon has opened what it calls a 5G incubator to explore new use cases and applications using Verizon’s pre-commercial 5G technology. The incubator is based in a co-working space in New York City.

Kymeta and Intelsat announced that Kymeta’s KĀLO internet access service is available with broad initial geographic coverage. KĀLO combines Intelsat’s high-throughput satellite network with Kymeta’s flat panel, electronically-steered satellite terminals.

AT&T is conducting field trials of its broadband over power line technology, named Project AirGig, in Georgia and an undisclosed location outside the U.S. AT&T says the technology can support Gbps data rates.

Verizon has selected Ericsson to provide the networking equipment for Verizon’s 28 GHz, pre-standard 5G fixed wireless access service, which will be deployed in several U.S. communities during the second half of 2018.

Huawei and NTT DOCOMO, Japan's largest mobile communications carrier, conducted a 5G trial in Tokyo, demonstrating 4.52 Gbps downstream and 1.55 Gbps upstream data rates at 28 GHz.

A white paper published by 5G Americas discusses the cellular technology advancements enabling the growth of the internet of things (IoT) market, including applications for wearables, health care and connected vehicles.

T-Mobile and Ericsson achieved download data rates of 1.1 Gbps using 12-layer Licensed Assisted Access (LAA), claiming to be the first in the world to exceed 1 Gbps using unlicensed spectrum.